Critics of software patents would say the low ranking points to the poor quality of many software patents, patenting the obvious rather than genuine inventions.
One reason for the low ranking -- and this is indicative of more than just the men's game -- is that tennis has failed to channel a mass of urban talent down its pipeline the way professional football, basketball and baseball have.
In part, the low ranking is related to a change in this year's index, a measure of perceptions about corruption drawn from surveys by international economic organizations and risk analysts.
"When you've got more platforms, even the low ranking individuals don't need to deceive their way in to get access," says Wheeler.
The study found sexual harassment, high rates of female genital mutilation and a growth in conservative Islamist groups contributed to the low ranking.
In a series of experiments, Wheeler found that it was almost always the low ranking individuals that were giving the false alarm calls.
